A Hologram For The King - Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer

4/20/16

What You Will Hear: Guitar (modern acoustic and ethnic), strings (modern and ethnic), and a little bit of boy’s choir.

Standout Tracks: Mr. Clay, Voyager, Timeless, The King Is Coming, New Hamshire, A Hologram For the King-End Credits, Bonus Track-Traveler​​Will You Be Humming Along? The main theme will catch your attention at the start, then disappear, and finally feel like an old friend when it returns for the album's conclusion.

Will I come back to it? Yes. The opening track immediately introduces a nice main theme, and the instrumentation throughout is wonderfully soothing. This is a great listening experience for a quiet moment in your day. After the first few tracks, the main theme isn’t utilized often. I would have liked to hear more development of this material. Instead, there is a lot of ambient writing and (almost) minimalist repetition, but the experience is still completely engrossing. To my ears, this is due to the fact that the Middle Eastern locale did not dominate the make-up of the orchestra, and that choice is very refreshing. (The obvious choice would have been Lisa “Gladiator” Gerrard.) The geographical influence on A Hologram For The King is (perfectly) subtle. The result is a unique and enjoyable soundscape. Need a quiet pick-me-up? This score is for you.